Enjoy the latest films on DVD or in cinema, with Honest Mum’s honest rundown of the latest offerings and what’s worth watching.
Here’s a round up of what’s hot and what’s not at the movies and on DVD. Enjoy!
21 Jump St:
Based on the late Eighties Johnny Depp cop show, this film is the postmodern Police Academy we’ve all been waiting for. Unlikely partners in crime Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are punished for flunking an arrest and are sent undercover back to school to out a drug ring. And what better way to do that but throw a huge party? Hilariously funny and utterly clever, this film will make you spit out your popcorn as you LOL your way through 90 minutes of action packed, crazily amusing set pieces of police comedy since well, since the Eighties!
Rating 9/10
Moneyball:
One of the finest sports films since Raging Bull, you’ll never look at Brad Pitt in the same way again. Based on a true story, Moneyball recounts how Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane beat baseball history by putting a team together on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to buy new players. His trusty sidekick Peter Brand is played by Jonah Hill who pulls off a dramatic performance with such ease you begin to wonder why he’s only ever associated with comedies. This flick deserved all its Oscar nominations at this year’s Academy Awards and there’s no need to know anything about the game to enjoy. Watch it now.
RATING 9/10
Midnight in Paris:
Woody Allen is back to his best with this Paris-based time travel film. Owen Wilson is the perfect proxy for Allen playing Gil, a successful but disillusioned Hollywood screenwriter desperate to write a novel and dearly infatuated with Paris. His fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) doesn’t reciprocate and is keen to return to the US after their family holiday away. One night, as the clock strikes midnight, Gil is magically transported back to Twenties bohemian Paris, partying with the greats: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Cole Porter, even falling in love with Picasso’s mistress played by Marion Cotillard. Soon he becomes more inspired than ever to follow his Parisian dream. A love letter to Paris, this film will captivate your senses and make you fall in love with the film and of course, the city of light, all over again.
RATING 8/10
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
Hugh Grant takes the helm in this Aardman stop frame animation film based on the first of Gideon Defoe’s collection of children’s books about the aptly named Pirate Captain. Pirate Captain is a lovably incompetent and gentle pirate, determined to beat his rivals and win the Pirate Captain of the Year award after years of humiliation and failure. On a mid sea meeting with Charles Darwin, he discovers his beloved parrot is in fact a dodo who could make their fortunes. So off they trot to pirate-hating Britain where the action and laughs truly set sail. The film boasts an all-star cast with Imelda Staunton, Martin Freeman, Jeremy Piven and Salma Hayek to name but a few. With its Pythonesque, quintessentially British humour and incredible attention to detail in every frame, parents and children will be entertained throughout m’hearties!
Rating 7/10
One Day
Now out on DVD, based on the best-selling novel by David Nicholls, One Day follows the lives of two friends: Yorkshire lass Emma (Anne Hathaway) and smoother than smooth, handsome Dexer (Jim Sturgess) who spend a night together in 1988 on their graduation day from Edinburgh uni and are followed thereafter for one day each year for the next twenty years. It’s a super concept on paper (as proved by the book) but sometimes fell a little short in the film (also adapted by Nicholls). I craved for more focus on Dexter’s crisis years as he becomes a TV host (the most interesting part of the film) and their near happy ending… Brooklyn-born Anne received a lot of criticism for her Yorkshire accent but I never felt it interfered with her performance and the chemistry shone between her and Sturgess for the duration. An enjoyable, finally heart-wrenching take on the usual romcom fare — well worth a watch.
RATING 7/10
Vicki Psarias is the blogger Honest Mum. Vicki is an award winning writer/director winning the 30 Under 30 Square Mile London Talent Award, The Channel 4 4Talent Award for Best Filmmaker amongst many Best Director film festival awards from LA to India. Vicki features in the Guardian’s Courvoisieur Future 500 and was highly commended at the Red Magazine Red Hot Women Awards for her writing and directing work. To read her blog, the honest and funny musings of a filmmaker and first time mother please go to http://www.honestmum.com.
Her film website is www.vpsarias.co.uk. Vicki is former Editor of the Film & Festivals Magazine and currently reviews films for BBC Radio Leeds.
Follow Vicki on Twitter @HonestMummy and @VickiFilm
About Jennifer Howze
Jennifer Howze is the Creative Director and co-founder of BritMums. She blogs about family travel at Jenography.net, tweets at @JHowze and Instagrams at @JHowze. Previously, she wrote the Alpha Mummy blog at The Times and as a journalist has contributed to The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, Budget Travel, CNN.com, Allure, SELF and Premiere, among others. She won The Maggie Award from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for a health article in Seventeen magazine.